About the Author
According to Richard Sotnick, he has enjoyed five lives:
Life 1 – The law
After qualifying as a solicitor, Richard became a junior advocate in the courts where he enjoyed the cut and thrust of thinking on his feet. He eventually became a senior partner of a firm of solicitors in Portsmouth.
Life 2 – Politics
Richard’s ambition was to enter politics and he was appointed by the Conservatives as a speaker in the Wessex area (Oxford, Wiltshire, Berkshire and Hampshire). Shortlisted for the Portsmouth North constituency in 1971 – ahead of John Major – he missed out on securing the nomination by three votes. By then, he had become a councillor for the City of Portsmouth and, at the age of 38, following the reorganisation in 1973, found himself elected the first leader of the city council and, five years later, lord mayor.
Life 3 – Music
In 1977, Richard founded the Portsmouth International String Quartet Competition, which had Yehudi Menuhin as artistic director. In 1988, due to lack of funding in Portsmouth, Richard transferred the competition to London. He finally retired from its board in 2000. The London International String Quartet Competition remains the world’s leading competition in this discipline. Richard’s work for it led to him being awarded the Walter Wilson Cobbett Gold Medal by the Company of Musicians and honorary membership of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Life 4 – Commerce
In tandem with his work in music, Richard acted as director of several companies in London, which he continues.
Life 5 – The Coburgs
In 2000, Richard decided to carry out research on and write about the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family, having been introduced to the subject by Lord Louis Mountbatten in 1975. So that he would be able to read and translate documents in the archives at Coburg, Gotha and St Wendel in Germany, he studied German, initially at the Goethe Institute, then for five years with a tutor. By 2006 he was proficient enough to give a lecture in German to an audience at St Wendel. His book, The Coburg Conspiracy, is the result of all that study.
In addition …
From 1979 to 1987, Richard was chair of the Portsmouth Cultural Festival and a director and trustee of the Mary Rose Trust, and in 1985 he was elected an honorary alderman of the city in recognition of his services. Richard now lives in north London with his wife, with whom he has three daughters. Formerly a keen skier and squash player, he continues to play golf and to sail with his wife whenever possible.